What we know so far

I’m going to hand over to Alan Yuhas now, so here’s a short summary of what has happened this morning:

Around five hours after his identity was released by law enforcement authorities, New York and New Jersey bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested in Linden, New Jersey.

The arrested followed an exchange of fire between the suspect and police officers, two of whom were hit. Elizabeth mayor Chris Bollwage said one officer was shot in the hand and the other took a bullet to a protective vest. Both were expected to survive. Rahami was seen being loaded into an ambulance with what appeared to be a wound to his upper right arm or shoulder.

Rahami had been wanted in connection with the explosion in Chelsea, Manhattan on Saturday night that injured 29 people, a second device found blocks away, and five devices found near the train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey on Sunday night, one of which exploded while being examined by a bomb disposal team.

Rahami was also wanted by New Jersey state police in connection with the pipe bomb that exploded and others that were found in Seaside Park on Saturday, next to the planned route of a charity 5km run in support of the US Marines and sailors. Nobody was hurt in that incident.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday morning that there were possible “foreign connections” to the bombs. No claim of responsibility has yet been made by any foreign group, such as Islamic State or al-Qaida.

The presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, exchanged barbs in statements to the media on Monday morning. Clinton said Trump’s rhetoric, as evidenced in an angry and immigration-focused appearance on Fox News, “gives Isis what it wants”.

In response, the Trump campaign said Clinton had “accused Mr Trump of treason”, which an advisor said was “not only beyond the pale, it’s also an attempt to distract from her horrible record on Isis”.

President Obama, speaking in New York before attending the United Nations general assembly, counselled caution and resolve.

Clinton: US must be 'vigilant but not afraid' after series of terrorist incidents – campaign live

Lee Zeldin, a congressman from New York state, has this to say on Twitter, in reference to the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who has been protesting the national anthem before games, over racial injustice in the US.

It is being reported, by Reuters among others, that two police officers were shot in the shootout with Ahmad Khan Rahami that preceded his capture in Linden, New Jersey.

Reuters quotes Elizabeth mayor Chris Bollwage as saying one officer was hit in the protective vest and the other in the hand: sources cited by other media organisations say both officers are expected to survive.

“Now hopefully a lot more questions will be answered,” said the mayor outside the home of Rahami and his family, which the FBI raided on Monday morning but found empty.

The mayor said the family had owned and operated its business, First American Fried Chicken, and lived above the modest shop on Elmora Ave, New Jersey since 2002.

The mayor spoke about how the chicken store had faced complaints and problems in 2012, when the city council and police enforced that it close at 10pm. He acknowledged that the elder Rahami repeatedly mentioned his Muslim faith in responding to these complaints.

“He brought up his faith in [a] lawsuit, he brought up his faith in conversations with city officials … [but the complaints against his store] had nothing to do with ethnicity or religious beliefs, it had to do with a lot of people hanging out in front of the store at all hours as well as congregating and code enforcement problems,” said Bollwage.

Bollwage said New Jersey senators including Corey Booker were on their way to Elizabeth for a security briefing with law enforcement at 12.30pm.

Capture of suspect confirmed

Jamiles Lartey

Local law enforcement officials have confirmed to the Guardian that Ahmad Khan Rahami is now in custody after engaging in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. One officer was injured in the incident, according to police.

Barack Obama speaks as reports say suspect captured

President Obama is speaking now in New York. He begins by commending the first responders involved in New York and New Jersey and expressing his thanks that no one was killed. The investigation is moving rapidly, he says, and he will not comment on it as it is not his business. He will give all federal support to the investigations, he says.

He asks the public to help and the press to “try to refrain from getting out ahead of the investigation”. It does not help if false reports or incomplete investigation are out there, he says – this just as major news outlets are reporting, citing unnamed sources and without official confirmation, that the suspect in the bombings has been captured.

Obama says there is no connection seen between the stabbing attack in Minnesota and the bombs in New York and New Jersey, and again records his thanks that no one except the suspect in Minnesota was killed. The attack in Minnesota is being investigated as an act of terror.

He details actions against Islamic militants online and in Iraq and Syria, saying taking territory from them undermines their message and helps western governments “push back against their message of hate”. He makes similar points to Clinton on this effort, of course, and then goes into a long exposition of why America’s fight against extremism is so important.

Trump advisor: Clinton accused opponent of 'treason'

The Trump campaign does not like Hillary Clinton’s remarks earlier today about the billionaire’s rhetoric on the bombs in New York and New Jersey giving “aid and comfort to our adversaries”, which it says amount to an accusation of “treason”.

In a statement, senior communications advisor Jason Miller said the comments “accusing Mr Trump of treason are not only beyond the pale, it’s also an attempt to distract from her horrible record on Isis.

If Clinton really wants to find the real cause of Isis, she needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror. The decision to remove all American troops from Iraq in 2011, which was vigorously supported by Clinton, created the vacuum that led to the founding of Isis.

Nothing she says or does can ever un-ring that bell. The only thing we can expect from a Hillary Clinton presidency is more attacks on our homeland and more innocent Americans being hurt and killed.

Our reporter, Amber Jamieson, is now in Elizabeth, New Jersey and will be filing updates. In the meantime, here’s a taste of what the New York Times is reporting about the fried chicken restaurant that is being searched in connection with the hunt for Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect in the blasts in New York and New Jersey:

… the man wanted in the bombing is the son of a man named Muhammad Rahami who runs a fast-food restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, in the ground floor of their home on Elmora Avenue, neighbors said.

The restaurant, which has employed Ahmad and some of his brothers, was such a persistent neighbourhood nuisance that the city forced it to close early, said Mayor J Christian Bollwage of Elizabeth. When it was opened several years ago, it stayed open all night, Mr Bollwage said.